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(No Model.)

Patent d Nov. 20; 1883.

Fla. 6.

FIG. 5.

lnveniar;

650. L. LYON,

Wibzass es;

TUNITEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE L. LYON, OF ALBANY, NEWV YORK.

lCE-CREEPER.

. QRFCIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 288,647, dated November 20, 1883,

' 7 Application filed July 5,1883. (X modelJ To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. LYON, of the city and county of Albany, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ice-Creepers. of whic the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the class of ice-creepers that are detachable from the boot or shoe; and the object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and effective device that may be readily attached to and detached from the heel of a boot or shoe, and afford to the wearer the required protection against slipping while walking on ice.- I attain this object by means of the con,- strnction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1- is a plan view of a shoe-heel with the fastening-plate secured thereto; Fig. 2, a plan View of a spur-piece detached from the heel; Fig. 3, aside elevation of same; Fig. 4, a vertical section of the fasteningplate at the line a: w on Fig.1; Fig. 5, a perspective View of the heel of a shoe with the creeper attached thereto, and Fig. 6 a modification of my clevice as adapted to india-rubber shoes. 1

As represented in the drawings, A is the heel of a boot or shoe; B, the fastening-plate, and C the spur-piece, 'of the ice-creeper.

The fastening-plate B, I preferably make in the form of a circular disk, so as to facilitate the operation of attaching it to a heel, into the bottom of which the said fastening-plate should be inserted, so as to liefiush with the surface of the heel, and there secured by means of screws or nails, as shown in Fig. 1. The said fastening-plate contains a recess, 1), in its upper side, and a slot, 1), leading thereinto, is.

formed for receiving the T-head of a spurpiece in the manner hereinafter described. A second slot, b narrower than the slot 7), crosses the latter at an acute angle, and is made for the purpose of facilitating the removal of dirt orother obstructive matter that may collect in the recess 1). By means of the slots Z) and b oppositely-located points I) are formed, and the inner faces of said points are provided with an incline or spiral twist, as shown in Fig. 4, for the purpose of drawing the spurpiece in close contact with the fasteningplate, as hereinafter described.

The spur-piece O is provided on its under side with sharp spurs c, for producing the required hold on icy surfaces, and on its upper side a T-head, c, is formed. The bar of said T-head is adapted to enter into the slot 1) of the fastening-plate, and its projecting arms are adapted to engage with the upper faces of the points I) of said fastening-plate in such manner that the spur-piece will be securely clamped in place. with an arm, 0", which projects toward the front of the heel, as shown in.Fig. 5, and to the outer end of said arm a spring, 0 is pivoted. In the free end of said spring there is an opening or loop that is adapted-to engage over a stud, D, fixed in the breast of the heel, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5.

The mode of attaching the spur-pieceto the fastening-plate is as follows: The said spurpiece is turned to one side, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 so as to permit the T-head c to enter the slot b of the fasteningplate. When the said T-headis fully inserted in the slot 1), the spur-pieceis turned back to bring the arm c" toward the middle of the front side of the heel.- By this movement the spiral faces of the points If, by hearing against the projecting arms of the T-head 0, will draw down the spur-piece G into close contact with the bottom of the heel A. The spring 0 is then fixed :over the stud D, and thereby the spur-piece 0 will be securely locked in place.

The spur-piece can be removed from the heel in a moment by simply reversing the operation just described.

Instead of attaching the spring 0 to the arm 0, as above described, it will readily be seen that said spring may be attached to a stud fixed in the breast of the heel, and thus be adapted to engage with' a pin formed on the end of the arm 0 thereby reversing the mode of using the spring 0", above described. Again,

The spur-piece O is also provided instead of forming the spring 0 to engage over 5 a stud D, as herein shown and described, the said spring attached to the arm-c may be constructed to hook over one edge of the heel A. In fact, the mode of locking the spur-piece O in place, after itis engaged with the fastening- IOQ plate B, as described, admits of an almost endless variety of changes.

In the modified form applicable to indiarubber shoes, as shown in Fig. 6, the fastening-plate B is provided with wings I) and an arm, 1) as indicated by the dotted lines in said figure. The said fastening-plate is e111- bedded in the rubber heel and secured by rivets in such manner that only the circular face of the plate and the end of the arm 6 will be exposed. The end of the arm 12 serves to receive the end of the spring 0" of the spurpiece 0 in the same manner that the stud D does, and the mode of attaching the spur-piece to the fastening-plate is the same in every respect, as hereinbefore described.

I claim as my invention 1. As an improvement in ice-creepers, the

combination, with the fastening-plate B, provided with a slot, 1), and adapted to be se- 20 cured in the heel of aboot or shoe, as described, of the spur-piece 0, provided with a IT-head, 0, adapted to engage with the fastening-plate B, as set forth, and means, substantially as described, for locking the said spur-piece to its place on the heel, as specified.

2. The fastening-plate B, provided with a slot, b", wings I), and arm If, as herein set forth, in combination with the spur-piece (l, constructed as herein described, and adapted to engage with said fastening-plate in the manner and for the purpose herein specified.

GEORGE L. LYON.

lVitnesses: WILLIAM H. Low, S. B. BREWER. 

